The European Commission announced in March they would no longer keep an office in Scotland due to the looming British departure from the European Union. In a video posted on their social media, the Scottish headquarters of the EU executive branch recorded the moment the European Union flag was removed from the Edinburgh building as the office prepared to shut down at the end of the week. The Commission had previously rejected calls from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon to maintain a base in the Scottish capital after Brexit.
When contacted for comment, the call to the Office of the European Commission in Scotland was immediately redirected to the Commission's London office in Smith Square.
The EU Commission Scotland Twitter account had the caption "Goodbye to @EUCommScotland at Alva Street, #Edinburgh#whatwillthefuturehold #brexit" accompany the video.
Ms Sturgeon retweeted the original post commenting "haste ye back," with other social media users suggesting the Commission could return to Edinburgh in the future despite Brexit.
The European Parliament has indeed opted to keep their offices in Scotland open in the future as MEPs claimed EU citizens living in Scotland and Scottish organisation could use the local headquarters to maintain EU links.
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Brexit news: The Commission shut down the Scotland office this week (Image: TWITTER/@EUCommScotland)
Brexit news: The Commission rejected calls to remain in Scotland (Image: TWITTER@EUCommScotland)
The office closure comes day after the Scottish First Minister lashed out at the British Government, claiming the Conservative Party has sought to “deepen division rather than bring people together” in the wake of the EU referendum and suggesting Downing Street “sought to interpret the result in the hardest way possible and red lines got drawn that didn’t have to be drawn”.
This attack referred to Theresa May’s red lines set out in her 2016 party conference speech, which swept the customs union, single market and any future role for the European Court of Justice in the UK off the table before negotiations even started.
Ms Sturgeon went on claiming the final two in the leadership contest are yet to
